NAPLES, Fla. – Grace Kim nearly ran out of golf balls en route to her first major championship title.
To hear Kim tell the story, it all makes perfect sense. After she wrapped up the final round of his year’s Amundi Evian Championship and signed her scorecard, she gave an autographed ball to the walking scorer, the standard bearer and a young fan. She had five balls at the conclusion of regulation and was now down to two.
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Before the 24-year-old Aussie went out in a playoff against Jeeno Thitikul, her caddie, Drew Ernst, asked how she was doing on golf balls.
“I was like, yeah, I’m fine,” recalled Kim, who first told the story on the Inside the LPGA podcast and revisited it at the CME Group Tour Championship, “surely it will be done in one hole. So we went out, obviously, we put one in the water and then I was like, oh, no, like, I’ve just got one ball left and I had to put it, I had to chip it over at water as well. My first thought was get it over the water, so then I don’t have to, you know, have an awkward situation.”
Australia’s Grace Kim holds the trophy after her victory on the first playoff hole after the final round of the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club, in Evian-Les-Bains, eastern France on July 13, 2025.
Kim, who made eagle on the 72nd hole to force the playoff, pitched the ball back over the water and across the green and into the hole for birdie. They went back to the 18th tee for more.
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This time, Kim stayed out of the water and once again eagled the closing par 5 to lock up her first LPGA title with the only ball she had left.
Kim, for the record, typically carries six balls in her bag.
Because the LPGA doesn’t use the one-ball rule, Kim could’ve borrowed a golf ball if needed – even from Thitikul, her playoff opponent.
Kim admitted to watching the highlights from her victory in the months since, joking that she’s probably responsible for most of the views on her hole-out from off the green.
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“It’s just been, I think, a bit of a pinch-me moment,” said Kim. “Like at the time I just didn’t realize what was going on, and to be re-watching all the video footage of what has been collected, and I guess presented to the world with my win, yeah, was a bit of a heartfelt moment.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Grace Kim nearly ran out of golf balls when she won Amundi Evian
